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Cultural events add up to a busy summer Sunday

The pace of life downtown certainly slows in the summer, but it's not as slow as it was a decade ago.

Not by a long shot.

On Sunday afternoon, there was a steady stream of folks - some tourists but mostly locals - going into the Telfair Museum of Art's Jepson Center, where artists such as Marcus Kenney and W. Gerome Temple were set up at demonstration tables.

Several dozen people turned out for the gallery talk about the exhibit "New Directions in American Drawing." In the gallery next door, patrons took their time viewing Kenney's stellar show "Topics in American History."

The ArtZeum was filled with children.

A few hours later, Jazz'd Tapas Bar was nearly full. Some patrons had just randomly come for dinner, but a fair number were on hand for the release party for Trae Gurley's CD "The Good Life."

With his deep voice, classic good looks, and wide repertoire of jazz and big band standards, Gurley is a staple on the downtown scene. Best known for his renditions of Sinatra's biggest hits, Gurley is a regular at Jazz'd on Thursday nights and has performed at countless venues and events in recent years.

It's good to see Gurley take the professional step of recording a CD, which will be available for $20 at his shows and at various venues around town, and eventually via his Web site (www.traegurley.com).

Building projects forge ahead, despite heat

We may have hit that point in the year when many local folks seem to be wilting from the midday heat.

But the tourists soldier on.

Before the rains came Saturday afternoon, I jogged along the Bull Street corridor, which was crawling with visitors who weren't going to let the weather keep them from exploring the city.

The tourists weren't alone, however. At almost every turn, construction crews were hard at work.

Yes, on a Saturday.

In summer.

In Savannah.

A team was working briskly on the façade repairs at Independent Presbyterian Church. There was a steady hum of activity at the soon-to-open Panera Bread at Broughton and Bull streets.

Three commercial buildings on West Broughton Street were literally buzzing from all the tools in use.

There was even some activity in the central portion of the pit at Ellis Square. Crews in the northern portion of the big hole are working on the third level of underground parking.

Despite recent declines in the national commercial real estate market and a sharp downturn in the local and national housing market, investors are obviously forging ahead with all sorts of area projects.

Incidentally, although I didn't conduct a census as I jogged past all these projects, at least half of the workers that I saw were Latino.

I write a lot about the positive efforts to bring high-wage, knowledge-based businesses to the Savannah area, but it's worth noting that much of our economy still hinges upon hard outdoor labor.

And there's plenty of that labor being done this summer, which is a sure sign of the health of downtown Savannah's major commercial corridors.

It's ironic. A decade ago, there was general concern about the lack of economic activity and development on Broughton Street. And now there's a widely shared concern that we're seeing too much.

City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached at billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.